I remember just enough high school German (can still count to 100, but precious little else remains in the memory banks) to say that sounded pretty damn impressive to me! I can't even fathom throwing Japanese into the mix with German and English. You are a true woman for all seasons.

Well, yes I believe, if you dropped the whole egg in the boiling water......you would have poached it. If you scrambled it and drizzeld it in, you would have an egg drop soup ribbon effect. I believe for the the results you are trying to get, you need to temper your egg. Beat it in a seperate bowl and then add a smal bit of the hot liquid from the noodles to the beaten egg a bit at a time, whisking or beating all the time, to gradually bring up the heat without curdling or scrambling the egg. When you have enough heat that it starts to thicken, then you can add it to the main noodle bowl.